My Teaching Journey

My teaching journey began in September of 2005, months after I received my B.A. in Spanish from Cal Poly. I first started working as a substitute teacher for three different districts, Chaffey, Upland and Pomona districts.  A year after, and thanks to a friend that I had at that time, I received a great opportunity to work as a full time teacher at Chino High School while I was still working on my teaching credential. In the two years that I was at CHS I learned the overwhelming challenges that a first year teacher goes through. These tough experiences should be used, in my opinion, by educators as an impulse to become better professionals.

Two years later, my teaching career took a different route as I began to work for Pomona Unified. My first teaching assignment was at Ganesha High. With two years of teaching experience I was confident that I was better prepared to cope with the challenges of being a teacher at a new school. However, I was totally wrong. Through the middle of the school year I started to have a lot of discipline issues with students and I began to reconsider if teaching was truly my calling. One sunny day, however, I shared with Ms. B - a veteran teacher who also worked at Ganesha - the issues that I was having with some of my classes. In general, I will forever be thankful to Mrs. B for taking me under her wings. She gave me some great advice to incorporate into my teaching which I feel helped me become a better teacher over all. 

At Ganesha, I learned the importance of having a mentor teacher.

Well, unfortunately a couple of years later and due to budget cuts I was transferred to Garey High School and while I was teaching there I truly felt that I flourished as a teacher. When I started to work at Garey High School the first two words that came into my mind were “connection” and “rapport.” I made those two concepts my priority and my foundation of my teaching since day one! That connection and rapport that I tried to build with every student helped me run my classroom smoothly and create a pleasant environment for my students to want to go to my class and learn. 

That is why in the five years that I was at Garey I learned the importance of building good relationships with your pupils.  I also learned that if students genuinely see that you care for them and if they feel supported then they are going to respond to you in a positive way. The great interactions that you have with your students will be reflected in your classroom environment. 

 The years that I was at GHS I worked with a diverse population of students from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds yet, I was able to connect with most if not all of them. This helped me tremendously since it significantly reduced discipline issues in my classroom  which made me love and enjoy my job even more.  Nonetheless, I feel that I ultimately was able to create a good reputation for myself as a teacher since the first day I stepped on that campus at GHS and that helped me along the way all the years that I taught there. 

My teaching career has come full circle. I now work for the first district that hired me as a substitute teacher CJUHSD. Although I am teaching at a different school district my teaching has not changed. I continue to focus on making that connection with my students. However, the difference that I see from the school I am working at now compared to Garey is that students at my current school have more opportunities to explore their talents with the different options of electives that students can take. I don’t know how it is now at Garey but during the years that I was there students did not have a lot of elective choices where they could explore their passions and that is something I did not like.  

I have noticed though that nowadays many schools, including Garey High School provide students with a lot of in school resources and community resources for them to  succeed academically.  However, students need to be informed and take advantage of those free resources that their schools are providing for them. A lot of students do not take advantage of those opportunities that they are given and they are missing out. And, that kind of bothers me to be honest!

Thus, as I reflect back on all the years that I have been teaching, I can say that student talent exists everywhere! From working in Chino, to Pomona, to Upland and now in my current site I have been fortunate enough to witness a lot of my former students get accepted to their dream school which in a lot of cases have been top Universities. I have seen the dedication that these students have put into their studies and with the support of their families and mentors they have achieved their goals. Some of those students did not have the support of their families, but, yet they had a school mentor that helped them believe in themselves and by taking advantage of all the school resources that their school provided they too were also able to get into their dream college. 

Do I consider myself a great teacher with 14 years of teaching experience, two Master’s degrees one in teaching and another one in Counseling under my belt? I do not know but not knowing fuels my desire to be the best teacher I can be. That is the reason why I continue  to learn and educate myself to just be better prepared to tackle the daily challenges that all teachers have to face in education. For example, a big problem that we are now facing is the increased usage of cell phones devices in the classroom.  How do we tackle that?!  I, yet, have to figure it out. However, if you are considering going into teaching or you are a first year teacher just know that it gets easier as the years go by. Don’t let the first couple of years of your teaching discourage you. Just like some students need mentors to succeed, teachers also need good mentors to improve in their teaching. Don’t be afraid to collaborate with other teachers and learn from them.  Also, have patience and remember to try to build rapport and that connection with your students by tapping into their interest. Thus, don’t take everything personal and don’t hold grudges. Finally, remember that special educator that made a difference for you in your life when you were at school and try to incorporate their good teaching strategies into your own techniques. 

Teaching can be stressful, at times, but is one of the most rewarding jobs a person can have!  

- Silvia Delgado